88 CHARADEIIDJi. 



congeners. No matter how rapidly the flock may be speeding 

 onwards when fired at, it is certain instantly to sweep down- 

 wards, and in such a manner that I can readily imagine a tyro, 

 after having shot at the species for the first time, impressed for a 

 moment with the idea that the whole flock is falling to his barrel. 



On this subject a note has been supplied by a sporting friend, 

 to whom the preceding remarks were shown : — " In the winter of 

 1847 I went to boggy meadows, in the neighbourhood of Belfast, 

 for the purpose of shooting golden plover, and took with me a 

 young lad, who had never before been on such an expedition. 

 When returning home, a flock, consisting of about fifty of those 

 birds, flew overhead beyond reach of the shot ; but as I despaired 

 of getting nearer to them, I fired at the flock, on which they 

 instantly swept down, almost perpendicularly, within three or 

 four yards of the ground. My companion ran forward in the 

 greatest delight, to pick up, as he expected, the entire flock, when, 

 to his utter amazement, they all resumed their former mode of 

 flight, and quickly disappeared in the distance." Flocks of lap- 

 wings, when fired at, often droop more vertically than the golden 

 plover, and approach the ground more nearly — within a very few feet. 



The period at which the under portions of the golden plover 

 become black is differently stated by the best practical ornitholo- 

 gists. Montagu remarks, that this bird " begins to change its 

 plumage early in the year; a specimen, shot on the 10th of 

 March, in Devonshire, had the whole under parts mixed black and 

 white from the chin to the vent/'* Mr. Selby observes, that 

 " towards the end of March, or the beginning of April, when 

 the impulse of nature excites them, the flocks, winch during the 

 autumn and winter had remained united, begin to separate into 

 smaller parties, and retire to the uncultivated grounds of the 

 northern counties of England, and to the Highlands of Scotland, 

 where they break into pairs, and prepare to breed. At this period 

 the vernal moult commences, and a remarkable change of plumage 

 is soon perceptible, the birds being fully clad in their nuptial 

 garb by the end of May," (p. 232.) It is stated, by Sir William 



* Supplement to Orn. Diet. 



